Akkerman's work is entirely self-portraiture but li
mitation leads to a stunning diversity. Painting variations of the same sub
ject repeatedly for his entire career\, Mr. Akkerman searches for something
different each time\, exploring all possibilities that paint\, the mind an
d the self have to offer. Akkerman searches for universal qualities veiled
within particular characteristics.

Past exhibitions of Mr. Akk
erman have been selected to emphasize the contrasts in painterly approach a
nd the juxtaposition of appearance in each painting. But for this exhibitio
n\, Akkerman and BravinLee chose to show one type of paintings\, a series\,
devoid of color\, all in shades of grays from light to dark. The face of t
he painter is dark and dirty and resembles the face of a coal miner... A mi
ner\, whose daily work is to toil deep into the earth for the fuel of our w
orld. Mr. Akkerman keeps on digging the mother lode of his own likeness.

In a letter to BravinLee\, architecture and art scholar Jeffrey
Kipnis wrote:

"In my view\, the brilliance of Akkerman's proje
ct is in its indulgence in the promiscuous capacity of painting technique t
o lie - against the tradition of Dutch self-portraiture understood as the e
xample par excellence of paint to reveal a deeper truth - thus\, there can
only be "one" Akkerman - i.e.\, the continuing unfolding total ensemble of
the experiment (as opposed to the importance of each Rembrandt or van Gogh
self-portrait). One can pick one's favorites\, but the essence of the proje
ct itself nullifies any tenable basis for choice." Jeffrey Kipnis Philip Akkerman was born in Vaassen in The Netherlands in 1957 and now
lives and works in The Hague\, Netherlands. In addition to numerous museum
exhibitions\, Akkerman's work is included in the collections of The Stedel
ijk Museum\, Amsterdam and The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C.\, The Ca
rtin Collection\, In 2011 Akkerman enjoyed a survey exhibition at The Kunst
hal Rotterdam. He is represented in Zürich by Galerie Bob van Orsouw\, in L
ondon by Mummery &amp\; Schnelle and in Amsterdam by Torch Gallery.